Between 35,000 and 50,000 people rallied in Washington, DC on Sunday, Feb 17th in the largest global warming protest in U.S. history. The primary demand: ditch the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
Between 35,000 and 50,000 people rallied in Washington, DC on Sunday, Feb 17th in the largest global warming protest in U.S. history. The primary demand: ditch the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
Read some testimonials here from women who traveled to DC to protest the pipeline.
Meanwhile, in spite of vague promises to take action to avert catastrophic global warming, Obama’s administration is gearing up for a big fracking push to accelerate natural gas mining.
Glengad compound invaded and work stopped for over 3 hours. Traffic control out of control.
Glengad compound invaded and work stopped for over 3 hours. Traffic control out of control.
On a sunny dawn after a successful national campaign meeting at the weekend, campaigners decided to take to the bog and stop work on the Glengad compound where Shell are currently excavating the reception pit for the tunnel boring machine.
All the protesters managed to breach the ragtag fences and two decided to rest themselves upon a Shell digger.
Work was stopped for over 3 hours on the compound.
Protest continued with a road blockade but when diggers recommenced there work, protesters ran back to the compound and tried once more to breach the fences and stop work.
After a short scuffle with Shell security IRMS protesters moved back to blockade trucks for the rest of the day.
This last week has been another week of resistance to Shell controversial pipeline, with numerous truck blockades and disruption to workers
This last week has been another week of resistance to Shell controversial pipeline, with numerous truck blockades and disruption to workers
In solidarity with our friend Izzy Ní Ghraidm, we have continued to keep up the pressure on Shell by blocking trucks and workers throughout the day.
Shell workers arrive at 6.30am and there are up to 105 truck movements per day so there's plenty of chance to show your opposition and support the local community.
Shell was forced to admit that they had been experiencing problems with the Tunnel Boring Machine after it was announced on the radio that work on the tunnel had resumed.
However just days after this was announced there are rumours flying of further problems.
As the photo of Glengad shows, the Shell compound has expanded and is now just next to the old camp field. It is a real eyesore on this beautiful landscape but it is not too late to stop it.
Come up and support this community under siege from Shell.
JULIAN BOND, BILL MCKIBBEN, MICHAEL BRUNE, AND OTHERS ARRESTED IN FRONT OF WHITE HOUSE IN CALL FOR ACTION ON CLIMATE
JULIAN BOND, BILL MCKIBBEN, MICHAEL BRUNE, AND OTHERS ARRESTED IN FRONT OF WHITE HOUSE IN CALL FOR ACTION ON CLIMATE
WASHINGTON, D.C. — This morning, 48 environmental, civil rights, and community leaders from across the country joined together for a historic display of civil disobedience at the White House where they demanded that President Obama deny the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and address the climate crisis.
Among the notable leaders involved in the civil disobedience were Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club; Bill McKibben, Founder of 350.org; Julian Bond, former president of the NAACP; Danny Kennedy, CEO of Sungevity; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Connor Kennedy, and Daryl Hannah, American actress.
After blocking a main thoroughfare in front of the White House, and refusing to move when asked by police, the activists were arrested and transported to Anacostia for processing by the US Park Police Department.
“The threat to our planet’s climate is both grave and urgent,” said civil rights activist Julian Bond. “Although President Obama has declared his own determination to act, much that is within his power to accomplish remains undone, and the decision to allow the construction of a pipeline to carry millions of barrels of the most-polluting oil on Earth from Canada’s tar sands to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. is in his hands. I am proud today to stand before my fellow citizens and declare, ‘I am willing to go to jail to stop this wrong.’ The environmental crisis we face today demands nothing less.”
“We really shouldn’t have to be put in handcuffs to stop KXL–our nation’s leading climate scientists have told us it’s dangerous folly, and all the recent Nobel Peace laureates have urged us to set a different kind of example for the world, so the choice should be obvious,” said 350.org founder Bill McKibben. “But given the amount of money on the other side, we’ve had to spend our bodies, and we’ll probably have to spend them again.”
“For the first time in the Sierra Club’s 120-year history, we have joined the ranks of visionaries of the past and present to engage in civil disobedience, knowing that the issue at hand is so critical, it compels the strongest defensible action,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “We cannot afford to allow the production, transport, export and burning of the dirtiest oil on Earth via the Keystone XL pipeline. President Obama must deny the pipeline and take decisive steps to address climate disruption, the most significant issue of our time.”
If approved, the Keystone XL pipeline would boost carbon pollution tomorrow by triggering a boom of growth in the tar sands industry in Canada, and greatly increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that this tar sands pipeline will boost annual U.S. carbon pollution emissions by up to 27.6 million metric tons – the impact of adding nearly 6 million cars on the road.
However, new research by Oil Change International (OCI) shows that the government’s estimates of the carbon emissions associated with Keystone XL underestimates the full impact of tar sands because a barrel of tar sands produces significantly more petroleum coke than conventional crude, which is more carbon-intensive than coal. The research can be found at: http://priceofoil.org/2013/01/17/petroleum-coke-the-coal-hiding-in-the-t….
OCI’s research shows that Keystone XL will produce enough petcoke to fuel five U.S. coal plants. The emissions from this petcoke have not yet been included in climate-impact analysis of the pipeline or the tar sands industry and OCI shows that it will raise total emissions by at least 13 percent.
Ms Ní Ghraidm pleaded guilty to a Section 8 and 9 charge and refused to do community service as she felt her protest was a service to a community under siege from Shell. The Judge then sentenced Ms Ní Ghraidm to 3 months in jail.
Ms Ní Ghraidm pleaded guilty to a Section 8 and 9 charge and refused to do community service as she felt her protest was a service to a community under siege from Shell. The Judge then sentenced Ms Ní Ghraidm to 3 months in jail.
Izzy has been a strong supporter of Shell to Sea for years and her commitment to the cause is much appreciated by us here in Mayo.
She has courageously stood up for our struggle to protect our community and is passionate in her fight to reclaim Irish natural resources.
Speaking from the Court, Shell to Sea spokesperson Terence Conway stated "Yesterday in Belmullet District court, we saw a committed environmental campaigner being jailed for a minor public order incident. On the other hand a Shell security guard who was caught dealing drugs is allowed to walk free. Ms Ní Ghraidm has taken a brave stand to support this community's struggle against a greedy multinational that will do whatever it is allowed to by the subservient State institutions".
Mr Conway continued "What we're experiencing is the selective application of the law. Yesterday Providence Resources dropped their Dublin Bay oil drilling licence because the State has not got it's required EU environmental laws in place. The same EU environmental laws apply to Corrib but are being ignored."
Earlier this morning, Stefan Warner, a youth pastor who was born and raised in Harrah, OK, locked himself to machinery being used to build the toxic Keystone XL tar sands pipeline through Creek land near Schoolton, OK.
Warner is taking action to protect the health of the North Canadian River, communities and land that this pipeline would run through from being irreversibly damaged by diluted bitumen (tar sands) leaks and spills. He is sending a clear message that the current day colonialism and disregard for the health and sovereignty of indigenous peoples in Alberta, Canada, and along the pipeline is unacceptable—from a Christian perspective, as well as a human perspective.
Tar sands pipelines have a horrendous track record: the existing Keystone 1 pipeline leaked 12 times in its first year, and at least thirty times to date. In 2010, the added dangers of tar sands pipelines were demonstrated by Enbridge’s Line 6B pipeline spill of more than a million gallons of diluted bitumen into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. The Kalamazoo tar sands spill is the costliest inland spill in U.S. history, draining the oil spill coffers and placing the $800 million and rising price tag onto the backs of local and federal taxpayers. But it is not the monetary burden that weighs heaviest. It is the toll on human life and the health of local ecosystems that is immeasurable, especially the toxicity of the diluted bitumen and undisclosed proprietary chemicals has proven devastating.
In addition to the immense dangers posed by the Keystone XL, TransCanada has been misrepresenting the economic effects of the pipeline. The majority of construction jobs are temporary and have been filled by Wisconsin-based contractor Michel’s, not Oklahomans and Texans. Despite TransCanada and the State Department’s rhetoric of energy independence, the diluted bitumen transported by the Keystone XL is destined for export to foreign markets after being refined in Gulf Coast refineries, and the National Resources Defense Council asserts that the KXL will increase domestic gas prices.
“I grew up in a town where the North Canadian River runs right through, and we can’t let the North Canadian become another Kalamazoo,” said Oklahoman youth pastor Stefan Warner. “I figure folks have to take action to stop our beautiful Oklahoma from being marred by a foreign corporation, and stand up to fight big corporations who think that poisoning people and stealing land is acceptable so long as they make a profit.”
Warner is acting with Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance, a coalition of Oklahomans and allies fighting to prevent construction of the Keystone XL which will bring dangerous and toxic diluted bitumen from the biome-consuming tar sands gigaproject to refinery communities in the Gulf. This action comes in the wake of dozens of similar actions which have actively fought construction of the Keystone XL in Oklahoma and Texas. In light of reports of shoddy welding by TransCanada whistleblower Evan Vokes and the recent release of photographs depicting holes in the weld of a pipe buried in Texas, the struggle to keep the Keystone XL from being completed is even more urgent.
Updates
At 8 a.m., direct support for Stefan was arrested without warning and placed in police car. Six other people on site are being detained.
At 9 a.m., six people detained now arrested. Seven police vehicles are on scene. Workers have lowered side-boom in disregard of Stefan’s safety and OSHA regulations. Stefan is still locked to machinery but lying painfully face-down on the lowered arm. Police are obscuring Stefan from view and not allowing anyone within photographing distance.
At 9:15 a.m., another individual arrested. This person was not initially detained but was prevented from accessing her vehicle since 8 a.m. Stefan
is still holding strong. It also appears that this action is also blockading an active frack site.
Having only just started working on the controversial tunnel, Shell's engineers are already facing significant problems.
As local people always predicted, the doib, an unusual blue/grey mineral soil found under peat bog, is causing issues.
Having only just started working on the controversial tunnel, Shell's engineers are already facing significant problems.
As local people always predicted, the doib, an unusual blue/grey mineral soil found under peat bog, is causing issues.
This is the first time such a machine has had to deal with this unstable viscous material. This once again highlights the experimental nature of the project.
Despite having taken more than a year to design and build, according to our sources the TBM got stuck after 30 meters having only just reached the doib. As we write there's no end in sight for this headache.
The tunnel and pipeline cuts right through Sruwaddacon Bay which is a designated conservation site, a candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA).
Shell has insultingly named the Corrib TBM ‘Fionnuala’ after the female of the Children of Lir, one of the legends most closely associated with the Erris region.
Although the environment's help is welcome, we could always use more people here. Now that the spring is here come and help make 2013 another unlucky year for Shell.
Background information on the tunnel (source : Shell.ie) :
"The TBM for the Corrib tunnel was designed and built in Schwanau, Germany by Herrenknecht, one of the world’s largest makers of TBMs."
"The tunnel will have an external diameter of 4.2m and an internal diameter of 3.5m and will run at depths of between 5.5m and 12m under Sruwaddacon Bay"
"When constructed, the tunnel will [if it's built] be the longest tunnel in Ireland and the longest gas pipeline tunnel anywhere in Europe."
"As the TBM moves forward, a series of 1.2m wide concrete rings made up of precast interlocking concrete segments is erected. These concrete rings, which are fabricated in Ireland, will eventually line the entire tunnel."
"As the cutter head rotates, hydraulic cylinders attached to the spine of the TBM propel it forward a few feet at a time."
On Friday, January 25th, a group of activists agreed to a se
On Friday, January 25th, a group of activists agreed to a settlement in TransCanada’s lawsuit against Tar Sands Blockade, Rising Tide North Texas, Rising Tide North America, and nineteen individuals. The SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) alleged that direct action against Keystone XL has cost TransCanada $5 million. This contradicts frequent public statements by TransCanada’s spokespeople that blockaders were not impeding construction in any meaningful way.
The eight Texans who came to court to defend themselves on Friday, some of whom had not been actively involved with Tar Sands Blockade since protests in August, were threatened with losing their homes and life’s savings if the lawsuit went forward. In order to protect the livelihoods and dependents of brave activists like Tammie Carson, who locked herself to a truck carrying Keystone XL pipe, the activists agreed to settle the lawsuit. The corporation will not seek the $5 million in financial damages, and the named defendants and organizations agreed to not trespass on Keystone XL property in Texas and Oklahoma or face additional charges.
Despite this legal setback, members of Tar Sands Blockade are as determined as ever to stop Keystone XL. The sustained direct action campaign will continue. Here’s a chronology of all the direct actions taken since August 2012.
Defendants made the following statements in response to the settlement:
Tammie Carson, a lifelong Texan, grandmother, and defendant from Arlington, TX, said:
“I took action for my grandkids’ future. I couldn’t sit idly by and watch as a multinational corporate bully abused eminent domain to build a dirty and dangerous tar sands pipeline right through Texans’ backyards. I had no choice but to settle or lose my home and everything I’ve worked for my entire life.”
Ramsey Sprague, Tar Sands Blockade spokesperson, and defendant from Fort Worth, TX, said:
“TransCanada is dead wrong if they think a civil lawsuit against a handful of Texans is going to stop a grassroots civil disobedience movement. This is nothing more than another example of TransCanada repressing dissent and bullying Texans who are defending their homes and futures from toxic tar sands.”
Lauren Regan, an attorney with the Civil Liberties Defense Center and one of the legal coordinators for the Tar Sands Blockade made the following statement:
“The SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) filed against the people and organizations that are fighting against TransCanada’s unethical and environmentally destructive pipeline will never stop the people’s resistance to the XL Pipeline. TransCanada has repeatedly attempted to violate the law and bully the people of Texas: through corporate corruption and lies, they obtained “common carrier” status in Texas in order to steal private property from low income and hard working Texans; they have attempted to bring the full weight of the police state upon nonviolent activists in an attempt to crush their peaceful resistance–using mace, tasers, and physical brutality.
Despite physical harm, lengthy incarcerations, felony charges, and now civil lawsuits to restrict their right to protest, the people have not been deterred and have only been emboldened in the face of Transcanada’s attempt at repression and bullying. At each attempt by TransCanada to chill the citizens’ rights to protest the XL Pipeline, the people’s lawyers will stand up to defend them in the Court’s. For every protestor that is jailed or beaten, ten more arrive to take that person’s place. For every homeowner who has had their land stolen, and dangerous tar sands oil now threatens their health and environment, people from around the country will band together to protect the next threatened community through a variety of nonviolent tools. Resistance is Fertile. The survival of the planet in the face of global climate change deserves nothing less.”
An indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon has won a reprieve after building up an arsenal of spears, blowpipes, machetes and guns to fend off an expected intrusion by the army and a state-run oil company.
An indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon has won a reprieve after building up an arsenal of spears, blowpipes, machetes and guns to fend off an expected intrusion by the army and a state-run oil company.
The residents of Sani Isla expressed relief that a confrontation with Petroamazonas did not take place on Tuesday as anticipated, but said the firm is still trying to secure exploration rights in their area of pristine rainforest.
“We have won a victory in our community. We’re united,” said the community president, Leonardo Tapuy. “But the government and the oil company won’t leave us alone. “
The Kichwa tribe on Sani Isla, had said they were ready to fight to the death to protect their territory, which covers 70,000 hectares. More than a quarter of their land is in Yasuni national park, the most biodiverse place on earth.
Petroamazonas had earlier told them it would begin prospecting on their land on 15 January, backed by public security forces.
Before the expected confrontation,the shaman, Patricio Jipa said people were making blowpipes and spears, trying to borrow guns and preparing to use sticks stones and any other weapons they could lay their hands on.
“Our intention was not to hurt or kill anyone, but to stop them from entering our land,” he said.
It is unclear why Petroamazonas hesitated. The company has yet to respond to the Guardian’s request for a comment.
Locals speculated that it was due to a reaffirmation of opposition to the oil company at a marathon community meeting on Sunday.
“They’ve heard that we are united against the exploration so they have backed off,” said Fredy Gualinga, manager of the Sani Lodge. “We’re happy they haven’t come. Life is going on as normal.”
The relief may not last for long given the huge fossil fuel resources that are thought to lie below the forest.
“It was a close thing, but we’re not out of the water. The oil company has not given up. They will continue to hound us and to try to divide the community. But at least we have a few days respite,” said Mari Muench, a British woman who is married to the village shaman.
The elected leaders of Sani Isla have pledged to resist offers from Petroamazonas for the duration of their term.
“This policy will remain in place during our period in office. We’re committed to that and we will do what we can to make it more permanent,” said Abdon Grefa, the speaker of the community.
The battle has now moved to the judicial system and the court of public opinion. Their appeal for an injunction went before a judge on Wednesday and they are calling on supporters to help them build a long-term economic alternative to fossil fuels.
“We hope people will write protest letters to Petroamazonas, come and visit our lodge, promote Sani, donate money to our school and projects, volunteer as teachers or provide funds to students to travel overseas so they can learn what we need to survive in the future,” said the community secretary, Klider Gualinga.
This morning, British and Canadian supporters joined Clayton Thomas-Muller, from the Mathais Colomb Cree First Nation in Manitoba, to present a petition in support of the Idle No More movement to the Canadian government at its High Commission in London. A group of around 20 gathered on the steps of Canada House in Trafalgar Square. Clayton from the Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign opened with a traditional song and spoke, followed by Melissa Adams from the Nisga First Nation in British Columbia, Jess Worth from the UK Tar Sands Network and James Atherton from Lush Cosmetics.
The Idle No More movement has seen mass protests, road and rail blockades and uprisings across Canada in recent weeks, and continues to grow. Inspirational Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence remains on hunger strike after more than a month, determined to keep fasting until she is able to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General David Johnston. She wants to discuss the ways in which First Nations’ treaties are being undermined by a series of Bills pushed through by the Canadian government, which aim to make it easier for industries, such as those operating in the controversial tar sands, to extract natural resources from Indigenous lands. On Friday, Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation whose health and traditional livelihoods are being devastated by pollution from the tar sands industry upstream, vowed to blockade the main highway to the tar sands if their demands for a reassertion of Indigenous rights over those of industry are not met.
Today’s solidarity protest in London involved handing in a petition to Prime Minister Harper signed by Oxford residents at a protest in Oxford last Saturday. The petition called on the Harper government to ‘stop putting the interests of the tar sands industry and other environmentally destructive companies above the rights of its First Nations’, to uphold the Treaties originally signed by First Nations and the British Crown, and to set aside any legislation that undermines them.
The protest then visited Buckingham Palace, to acknowledge the historical colonial relationship between Britain and Canada. As Clayton said: “2013 is the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation which helped set the boundaries of Canada and established the legal relationship with Indigenous communities. We felt that it would be very symbolic to take a banner to the Queen Victoria statue, given she was the signatory to the treaties in Canada which the Harper government continues to undermine.”
Clayton continued: “The complete gutting of all environmental approval, regulatory and enforcement mechanisms in Canada, through the passing of a series of Bills by the Harper government, mean that the reassertion of Aboriginal & Treaty rights are the last best hope to protect both First Nations’ & Canadians’ water, air and soil from being poisoned forever by big oil and mining corporations. We have a responsibility to stand up and fight against this threat, not just for us but for all those across the earth who are feeling the effects of climate change and water insecurity.”
Jess Worth, from the UK Tar Sands Network, said: “We are standing in solidarity today with Indigenous peoples in Canada who are seeing their right to a healthy life in a clean environment on their traditional territories auctioned off to the highest corporate bidder. As the Canadian tar sands industry seeks to squeeze every last drop of ever-more-polluting oil out of a planet that can no longer take it, we all have an interest in the success of the Idle No More movement which seeks to uphold First Nations’ rights and protect Mother Earth.”
James Atherton, from Lush Cosmetics, said: “It is greatly important to support and encourage movements like Idle No More, which acknowledge human rights and environmental issues as interlinked. For too long, the voices of Indigenous people around the world have been suppressed by colonial, domineering mindsets that live on in political and industrial systems. The Idle No More movement calls for change which is well overdue, and we support the revolution that is needed to create this positive change.”
For more information, see:
www.no-tar-sands.org
www.idlenomore.ca
www.ienearth.org/what-we-do/tar-sands
www.climaterevolution.org.uk
The petition text in full:
To:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, c/o the Canadian High Commission, 38 Grosvenor Street, London W1K 4AA
We request that the Government of Canada stops putting the interests of the tar sands industry and other environmentally destructive companies above the rights of its First Nations. The government is currently putting through eight Bills that violate existing treaties and will have the effect of undermining and destroying First Nations’ rights, traditions and territories. In particular, Bill C-45 will have significant implications for the ability of First Nations to control what happens on their traditional territories. This Bill is a massive, complex document and needs proper review and consultation with the people that it will directly affect. This has not happened.
This has provoked a country-wide grassroots uprising, Idle No More, which we support.
We request that the Government of Canada upholds all treaties signed between First Nations and the Crown, and immediately sets aside any legislation that could undermine these treaties. We further request that the principles of free, prior and informed consent, as recognised in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, are adopted by the government of Canada when dealing with all issues that impact First Nations.
The world is watching you.
